UPDATEMUMBAI, India — Commandos who stormed the headquarters of a New York-based ultra-orthodox Jewish group found the bodies of five hostages inside, an Israeli emergency medical crew said, as a fresh battle raged at the luxury Taj Mahal hotel and other Indian forces ended a siege at another five-star hotel.
An Israeli diplomat in Mumbai confirmed that there were no survivors inside the building.
A rescue service run by Orthodox Jews says staff members sent to Mumbai to help at the siege of the Chabad Lubavich Center also are reporting the hostages inside are dead.
"Apparently the hostages did not remain alive," the ZAKA service said in a brief statement quoting its staff in Mumbai. It did identify the hostages nor say how many may have died. A Brooklyn, N.Y.- born rabbi and his wife had been believed to be held hostage.
The ZAKA reportedly were allowed to enter the center as part of their role in preparing orthodox Jewish bodies for immediate burial. Jewish law requires burial within 24 hours of death.
Police sources said the bodies of two terrorists also were found in the center. It was not known when the hostages were killed.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting and fires broke out at the Taj Mahal hotel as commando units made a final push against terrorist gunmen still holed up inside.
Persistent gunfire and half a dozen grenade explosions could be heard from outside the hotel, according to a FOXNews.com reporter in Mumbai.
Sources told a FOXNews.com reporter in Mumbai that commando units were engaging as many as six gunmen in a ballroom on the floor above the main lobby. All of the hostages that had been held in the hotel were rescued, police officials said, but there were conflicting reports emerging that there still may be some hostages involved.
The State Department, meanwhile, says at least two Americans died in the terrorist attacks in India and more were injured. The U.S. is sending investigators to India to help unravel who is behind the bloody assaults that killed at least 150 people.
An official confirms the two Americans killed were traveling with a group from the Synchronicity Foundation in Virginia. A spokeswoman from that group identified them as 58-year-old Alan Scherr and his 13-year-old daughter Naomi.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,458564,00.html
